The Designer Trick That's Going To Take Your Dining Room to the Next Level

We spotted two dining rooms with a sophisticated designer decorating trick that anyone can do in their home, no matter the style. And it's the kind of trick that's subtle and smart, but can have a powerful visual effect on the look and feel of your space.

→ Find a lighting fixture that mimics the amount and arrangement of your dining room chairs

Though there is plenty of excitement involved with finding or making light fixtures for your dining room that really stick out or contrast with the rest of the furniture in the space, there's something special that happens when you choose dining room lighting that mimics the look of your dining room furniture in a very specific way: By subtly matching the amount and arrangement of your dining chairs.

In this post's top photo (photographed by Tara Striano for Lonny in the postYour Dream Weekend House in the Hamptons), a no-frills round dining table is surrounded by an array of equally sleek gray upholstery and wood dining chairs. Hanging atop the furniture arrangement is a bold, multi-arm brass modern chandelier with six glass globes at each end. Not only do the number of glass globes mimic the number of chairs, the arms' arrangement even loosely mimics the arrangement of the chairs around the table. This connection between the light fixture and the dining chairs makes the entire dining room vignette feel powerful, balanced, harmonious and interesting, all at the same time.

The photo above (photographed by Joe Fletcher for Feldman Architecture via Design Milk in the postA San Francisco House for a "Work Hard, Play Hard" Lifestyle), shows another way you can play around with this designer trick. The dining room below has a long rectangular table with eight chairs around it — three flanking each side and one on each end. Though any number of different types of light fixtures, in any type of shape, style or amount, could have looked great in this space, choosing a repeating line of simple pendants really combines with the repeating line of yellow chairs to create a room that feels like it has rhythm. Though there are only three chairs on each side and four lights, the fact that their are four lights and eight chairs still feels like a balance. The repetition and rhythm in this space makes it feel calm and serene but also still visually exciting.